


Devil's in the Details

by leoasc



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: Angst, Behind the Scenes, F/M, Fluff, Missing Moments, zenmasters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:08:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26997217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leoasc/pseuds/leoasc
Summary: A series of missing moments - one for every episode of season 5. Because we deserved to see more of Jackie and Hyde behind the scenes.
Relationships: Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde
Comments: 125
Kudos: 168





	1. Might Be Sinking

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. So forewarning: this is probably not gonna be anything like Summer Lovin.' For starters, the chapters will be much shorter (no way I'm committing to 25ish chapters the same length as the ones in SL). They're probably only going to be literally one scene each that will fit in sometime during the episode. Though for some of the more episodes I'll probably elaborate on scenes that were actually in the show because I can't help myself, but I'll keep those limited because I don't want to bore people with reading what's already been written. This probably goes without saying, but just in case - the scenes also won't flow one right into the other because it's more of a compilation than a story with an actual plot. Since you already know the plot.
> 
> That being said, this WILL be Summer Lovin' compliant because I can't rewrite their history in my mind at this point. It's not super important and if you haven't that's fine, but if I make reference to something that's not in the show, it's probably because it's something I made up as canon in my head.
> 
> And also, because this doesn't have an actual plot (basically Through Their Eyes pt 2 lol) if you see me writing one-shots or short stories in between just let it happen. I get bored easily.
> 
> Lastly, just in case you were curious, all chapter titles are taken from the songs which the respective episodes are named after. Anyway. I very much hope you enjoy. Thank you for reading :)

There were plenty of things Kelso had been wrong about before. Most things, in fact, Kelso tended not to be right about. But he had never been more wrong than he was just now.

" _Nothing ever changes around here."_

If he only knew.

Course, at first glance you wouldn't be able to tell. The basement still had an old musty smell, tinged with the scent of weed that would never fully lift. Upstairs in the kitchen Mrs. Forman cooked, humming the same songs she always sang. The faint sounds of a dribbling basketball could be heard the moment you turned onto the street, coupled with loud laughs and complaints. And Point Place was as still and unmoving as it always was, growing chillier now that summer had shifted into fall.

To Kelso it may have seemed like nothing ever changed. But to Hyde, nothing was the same.

He now lived in a world where, moments after Kelso stormed out the door, he launched himself at _Jackie,_ into her waiting arms, and let her pull him down onto her lips. He'd always liked kissing, but he liked it even more now, and did it more carefully and deliberately than he did before. Although lately they had been as rushed and desperate as they had when they first started making out.

"Steven, wait." He stopped kissing her as soon as she said it but didn't get very far - her hands wouldn't let him, tightening their grip on the back of his neck and holding his face close to hers. She'd been saying that a lot recently. _Wait._ As if she were nervous or scared of something. It was starting to make _him_ nervous, and he hated being nervous.

"What is it?" he asked, forcing the same distant coldness in his tone he'd been using the last couple days.

It was getting increasingly harder, though, to pretend like she didn't make his pulse beat against the base of his throat. And he hated that she did. Hated that he was losing this battle and succumbing to her far faster than she was to him.

He was working on that, though. In due time and lots of practice he was sure he'd be able to numb down whatever the hell he felt for her into something so small he wouldn't even remember it existed. And until then he'd continue acting like he hated hearing her talk (which wasn't even that hard to pretend) and like he wasn't wondering just how much time they had left until this blew up in their faces.

He tried not to contemplate how this was just his luck – that _of course_ the first girl he learned to tolerate for more than a week had to be the most complicated, complex, and frustrating one.

"Anyone can turn back around right now and catch us."

He raised an eyebrow. "Then I guess you better let me go so they don't catch us like this, huh?"

Color rose into her cheeks furiously and she unlinked her hands from around his neck and let them drop into her lap. He moved away from her and sat himself down on the couch too, his shoulder just barely brushing hers.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. Man. Since when did she start acting all awkward around him again? Well – he knew since when. And he wished she would quit it.

"So, um, you talked to Mrs. Forman, right?"

"Yup."

"And? What'd she say?"

Shrugging, he said, "Said she wouldn't tell anyone."

"That's it?"

"Other words were exchanged."

"Like?"

He sighed. "Doesn't matter, all right? I took care of it. I just told her it wasn't worth makin' a big deal outta cause we're just messing around."

"And she believed you?"

He glanced at her through the corner of his eyes. She was biting her bottom lip thoughtfully. He wondered what she was thinking.

"What's not to believe? It's the truth."

"Right. Well, we're going to have to be much more careful now. You know, now that Donna and Michael are back."

He turned his head to give her his most exasperated look. "No, really," he bit out sarcastically.

"Yes," she answered, ignoring the tone in his voice. "It's time you start practicing some self-control."

He laughed. "Yeah, okay."

"I'm serious."

He knew she was serious, which was the worst part. Jackie was dead-set on making sure no one – and especially not Kelso – find out what was happening. Theories and explanations for why were already overcrowding his mind. And they all had to do with him.

Hyde cleared his throat and tilted her face toward his. "I know all that. Would you relax? You're freakin' out's freakin' me out."

"I'm not freaking out!"

"Yeah, ya are."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am-"

He shut her up with another kiss, one that immediately became starved and all-encompassing. He kissed her till her body sank deeper into the couch and her fingers sank deeper into his hair. And the small sound that escaped her mouth was almost enough to arouse him, and then – "Steven, wait." Again.

He swallowed his impatience and frustration. She'd been like this since the day before Forman went to California – kissing him like the world depended on it then backing out the second it started to go any further. He had his suspicious as to why, of course, but they all pissed him off.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, leaving one hand on her face.

"Nothing. I just-"

"Jackie, listen," he said seriously. "If you're thinkin' about getting back together with Kelso that's fine and all, but at this point I think I deserve at least a fair warning before ya do." The accusation flew out him before he could realize how stupid and jealous it sounded.

" _Michael?_ " she repeated. Hyde considered whether Jackie would ever stop calling Kelso _Michael._ "I haven't even _thought_ about getting back together with him. I'm completely over him. When are you going to get that through your thick skull?"

Hyde ignored her use of his vocabulary and contemplated blurting out the answer that formed instantly in his head: _as soon as you stop getting nervous every time I say his name._ Even just now her breath had skipped and she'd dodged his eyes as she answered. He wasn't an idiot. He knew when he was being lied to, even if Jackie didn't realize she was doing the lying.

"Look, I don't care if you do or if you don't, all right? I just think I oughta know first."

Jackie looked thoroughly put off by that. "I _know_ you don't care. I'm just answering _your_ question." She folded her arms and huffed. Great.

"Look. It's been a long, nerve-wracking day. Why don't I just drop you home and I'll see ya tomorrow?"

"Fine," she grumbled.

"Good."

He stood up and held out a hand for her to help pull her up. She reached for it and stood, leaving her hand in his. They didn't move for several seconds, looking at each other studiously and cautiously at the same time. Hyde's eyes flicked momentarily down to their joined hands then back to her eyes.

He couldn't read what she was thinking, and the impossibility of their entire situation lit a fuse inside him. He drew her closer with the hand that was holding hers and lifted her chin softly with his fingers. When he bent his head to kiss her, her moved with purposeful slowness, not allowing the kiss to get hot and heated.

He kissed her the way he wanted to kiss her, not letting her take control, and letting his lips slide across hers gently and leisurely.

"Quit freakin' out," he said impassively.

"I'm not," she insisted again. But again her words didn't match her body language, and she dropped her hand from his before making her way to the door.

* * *

He slid the door shut and walked into the kitchen, nodding his head toward both Red and Mrs. Forman.

"Hey," he said by way of greeting, taking the seat opposite Red. It would be just the three of them tonight, seeing as Forman was taking dinner in his room to avoid talking to a still-pissed off Red.

"Steven," the man greeted, setting down the newspaper in his hand. "Back from dropping off your little girlfriend I see."

Hyde's head whipped in Kitty's direction and his eyes sent a disbelieving glare her way.

"Red!" she gasped, sounding as betrayed as he felt.

"She's not my girlfriend," Hyde answered immediately and dismissively, trying not to look shaken. He should've known once the drama of Forman running off to California died down that Mrs. Forman would direct her attention toward him. He'd just thought he'd convinced her not to say anything.

Red chuckled, glad to have information to hold over his head. "That's a deep hole you've dug for yourself there."

Hyde shrugged nonchalantly. "I know what I'm doing."

"You do, do you? Tweedle Dee's ex-girlfriend. Smart move. What was it - was it the beard?" Hyde pointedly ignored him. It was _despite_ the beard actually. Jackie'd been getting on his nerves lately about shaving it all off. Which, of course, made him more determined to keep it.

"Now, Red," Kitty laughed nervously, sending apologetic glances toward Hyde. "Let's not get caught up in the teenage drama."

"What do you think, Kitty? Do you think once this all blows up we'll finally have less kids coming in and out of our house?"

Hyde scowled. Kitty grimaced.

"No one's gonna find out. Well, at least, not if no one else says anything." He shot Mrs. Forman another look. "There's not even anything to even find out. It doesn't mean anything."

"Do you know _anything_ about women?"

Having had more than enough of this conversation, Hyde said, "You know what? I'm not hungry right now." He shoved the chair aside as he stood up, choosing not to focus on the amused and triumphant look on Red's face.

"Careful, son," he called as Hyde walked towards the stairs. "You sink too deep into that hole and there'll be no getting out."

Hyde didn't answer. He didn't have any further to sink. He'd already hit rock bottom, and for the life of him he couldn't see a way out.


	2. Could Never Hide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own That 70s Show.
> 
> *Takes place after the events of episode 2.*

As soon as Jackie pushed the door to the Hub open she regretted her decision. The Hub was always insanely packed right after school, and since she'd driven to Donna's school to pick her up, by the time they actually got to the hangout spot nearly all the tables were taken.

But coming to the Hub wasn't her only bad idea.

Jackie had no idea why she had thought that, less than a week after finding out, Donna would have lightened up a little more to the thought of her and Steven together. She hadn't been expecting for her to embrace it, but this was a little much, even for Donna.

"I'm serious, Jackie," she rambled, her voice rising to be heard over all the loud voices.

"I _know,_ Donna. You've only said it like a million times."

"And you've ignored me every single time!"

"And yet, you still haven't gotten the hint. Oh, look, there's a spot over there."

Donna shut up for about as long as it took to get to the table in the corner of the room. She resumed the moment they sat down. "So you're not gonna tell him then."

Jackie sighed and looked her friend straight in the eyes. "I don't know, Donna. We haven't talked about it."

That much was true. Anytime Jackie brought up Michael, Steven's only response was to tell her to _calm down_ and that _he won't find out._ Which was extremely optimistic considering Donna, Eric, and Fez all knew now.

"Weren't you supposed to end it, anyway? Isn't that what you said you were going to do?'

Jackie shrugged. "We changed our minds."

This time Donna sighed and shook her head. "I just don't get it."

"No. You don't. So shut up about it. Do you want fries?"

"Sure."

"Be right back."

Jackie gladly took the excuse to get up from the table and give herself a second to breathe. Donna was trying to act like the conscience she thought Jackie didn't have. But she didn't realize that Jackie's conscience was fully functional, ringing loud enough in her brain. Add Donna's voice to it and she felt like her head might split open.

She walked up to the counter and ordered a large plate of fries, moving to stand to the side while she waited. Her mind, of course, went immediately to Steven. She was trying to give him space and time to come to the realization on his own that he might like her enough to want to take the next step. It was just taking way longer than expected. She'd even stopped sleeping with him to see if that would push him towards coming to an answer faster. But still: nothing.

The good sign was that he wasn't giving her any indication that he wanted to end it all. The bad sign was that he wasn't giving her any indication that he was ready to risk it all. It was making her crazy.

"Jackie! Hey."

Jackie looked up and found James Sullivan leaning against the counter, smiling a big bright smile at her. James was a junior, too, and he had light brown hair and super smooth skin, perfectly straight teeth, tons of money, and no facial hair. Jackie had used him to make Michael jealous tons of times.

She smiled back. "Hey, James."

"How's it going?"

Jackie bit back a groan. She wasn't in the mood for this right now. "Just waiting for my fries." _Take the hint,_ she prayed, wishing him away.

It didn't work. "Cool. Listen, Jackie, I know Kelso's been going around telling everyone he's really done with you now and-"

"He's _what?_ "

"Well...uh, yeah. Are you not broken up? Because-"

"Oh no we are!" Jackie insisted in a shrill voice. " _My_ decision, not his! _I_ am the one done with _him._ "

"Oookay," drawled James. "Well, whoever it was - since you two are, y'know, officially over, I was wondering if you'd wanna go out sometime."

Jackie's shock was visible. James was nice and cute and rich and would probably do whatever she said. He was practically everything she ever wanted in a guy. "Um..." But he wasn't the guy she wanted.

Screw Steven Hyde. He'd turned her life totally upside down.

She cleared her throat.

She was Jackie Burkhart. It was time to start acting like it.

She reached forward and patted James' hand placatingly. She should have expected that she would attract hot guys now that she was presumably single (though not for long if she got her way). "Thanks for the offer, but I'm gonna have to pass."

His face fell. He was pretty when he was sad. When Steven got sad, he got angry to hide the fact that he was sad. She'd caught him in the act several times. His face then was like a warning - not to get too close or he might explode. Jackie wondered how close he would let her get.

"Oh, uh...okay. Well...you'll let me know if you change your mind?"

His voice yanked Jackie back into the present and away from Steven. She had to stop doing that.

"Sure," she smiled.

James walked away just as her order of fries was brought up. She grabbed it and skipped back over to Donna in a far better mood than she was in when she walked away.

"Donna, guess what? James Sullivan just asked me out!"

Donna frowned. "What'd you say?"

"I said no, of course," Jackie replied, smoothing her skirt over her lap after sitting down. "But it feels good to be wanted, you know? Which reminds me!" Jackie gasped. "Did you know Michael's going around telling school that _he_ is done with _me?_ "

Rolling her eyes, Donna reached for a fry and said, "Yeah, he's trying to get you jealous so that you'll realize you really do wanna be with him?"

" _What?"_

"Yeah. He's been talking about you and him nonstop all week. He's convinced you're just playing hard-to-get."

"So his response is to play harder-to-get?"

"Pretty much."

"Idiot."

"Well, he's Kelso."

"You should tell him to drop it."

"Don't you think I have? I've covered for you all week! He just won't listen."

Jackie swallowed dryly. "He doesn't care about me, Donna," she said seriously. "Not really."

"What, and Hyde does?" Jackie glared at her friend. She didn't offer a response. "Look, all I'm saying, Jackie, is that if you and Hyde insist on carrying on with this creepy, wrong, sorry excuse for a _fling,_ you either have to end it soon or tell Kelso about it. Cause he's gonna be crushed."

Guilt and worry filled her stomach, ridding her of any appetite she might have had. "Oh, shut up, Donna," she snapped, folding her arms.

But her heart was racing. As annoying as Donna was, she was right. Their relationship couldn't stay secret for much longer.

* * *

"Man, that's a travel!"

"No it's not, you idiot!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"You're just saying that cause you're losing!"

"I'm not losing!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm - Kelso, did you get dumber over the summer?"

"That's not possible, _Hyde._ "

"Okay, okay!" Fez's loud, slightly hurt voice interrupted their back-and-forth. "You two are giving me a headache."

Both Kelso and Hyde shut up, and Kelso added with a defeating sigh, "Sorry, Fez. I know you're sensitive."

Forman rolled his eyes and grabbed the ball from the ground. "How 'bout we just call it a game?" he suggested.

"Whatever," muttered Hyde, ignoring the judgmental look in Forman's eyes. Forman seemed to be under the impression that since Hyde wouldn't tell Kelso about what was going on with him and Jackie, that he would at least be nicer to him and kiss his ass. He was wrong about that.

As far as Hyde was concerned, what was going on between him and Jackie was nobody else's damn business. And the more anyone told him he had to tell Kelso, the less he wanted to do it.

Especially when he started blabbering like he was doing now. "Scored a date with that redhead cheerleader from junior year - Gina or whatever." He rolled out his shoulders. "Yeah. Jackie never liked her. The second she sees us together she's gonna drop her whole 'I don't wanna be with you act' and come running back to me. It's genius."

Forman was glaring pointedly at Hyde, who was seriously considering taking the ball from him just to throw it at his face.

"And if that doesn't work?" Hyde asked, feigning nonchalance. What if it did work? Jackie got jealous so easily, and she loved attention. Right now maybe she was having fun with Kelso chasing her around. But if Kelso stopped chasing her...would she really be okay with that?

"Oh, it will. Trust me. I know Jackie better than anybody."

Hyde bit his tongue. Kelso was so full of it.

"Man, I thought you were glad to get rid of her. Why do you want her back so bad?"

Kelso looked at a loss for words at that one. Of course. He had no real reason to want Jackie back other than to be able to say he scored her. Half the school had been waiting for them to break up so they could have their turn with her. Kelso loved being the only person yet to be able to flaunt her around. Like she was some damn grand prize.

"Well…" he began, stuttering out a response. "I did a lot of reflecting in California. And I realized that I really love her."

Hyde couldn't hold back the sound that came from him then; luckily, neither could Forman or Fez.

"Kelso," Forman said, "When I got there you were trying to convince some blonde swimsuit model that you were a virgin."

Kelso smiled wistfully. "Oh yeah. Annette. We really had something special."

Hyde rolled his eyes. He didn't see Forman jumping at the idea that Kelso should tell Jackie _he_ was with another chick.

"But this is different. You know, maybe the third time's the charm. This time it'll really work with Jackie. I know it can. I can tell she's still into me."

"You can?" Hyde knew he shouldn't be asking this - he wouldn't if he didn't give a crap about her. But he did. Forman sent him another warning glance. Again, Hyde pretended not to notice. "How?"

But he didn't offer any information worth knowing. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I can just tell."

Hyde wanted to tell him - in very explicit words - what he thought about that. But Forman cleared his throat and veered the topic away from Jackie, and he let it slide. Kelso didn't know what he was talking about. There was no way Jackie was still into him.

* * *

Hyde's zen was really being put to work tonight. He hadn't realized how hard it could be to resist simple urges, like the one he had to stretch his hand out and just rest it on Jackie's knee.

He was sick of himself. This was sick. This effect she had on him was sick.

He forced himself to zone into the game, zeroing in his brain on what was happening before him. He'd lost his cards a while ago, but Jackie and Fez were still in the game, eyeing each other warily.

"Ten," Fez was saying, placing a card face down on the table.

Jackie narrowed her eyes. "Bullshit."

Fez gave a small gasp, and his eyes bounced between his deck, the one on the table, and the card he just placed down. "Oh, screw it, I give up. You win again." You threw his deck down with embellishment and sent cards scattering all over the floor.

"Great," Forman noted. "You can pick all of those up Fez."

Scowling, Fez asked, "Why? Because I am a foreigner I must do all the chores around here?"

Forman blinked. "No. Because you're the one who threw them down in the first place."

"Oh. Makes sense."

The others laughed. Hyde rolled his eyes. It was a typical night in the basement. The entire gang was together, they'd been playing different games all night, and passing around beers as if they didn't have homework to get done.

Jackie, gloating loudly, stood up and flounced over to the deep freeze, grabbing a popsicle from inside. On her way back to the couch she brushed by him deliberately, leaving the hair on his skin standing straight. It was _almost_ a typical night, then. It would have been were it not for the small but constant passes he and Jackie were making at each other.

Earlier, Jackie had made a scornful face at him and told him the material of his shirt just _looked_ cheap, then proceeded to run her hands over the sleeves to prove her fact that, yeah, he bought cheap clothes. (Forman muttered what he thought about that loud enough just for Hyde to hear.)

When he'd been making fun of her for spending hours to get dressed just to go to school, he ruffled his hand through her hair to piss her off, leaving it messy, as well as tracing his fingers lightly on the back of her neck. (Donna cleared her throat loudly to indicate how uncomfortable it made her.)

And when Kelso started pestering her about what she did over the summer, she had responded by telling him she had more fun than she ever had with him. (To which Donna and Forman both looked physically sick.) (Hyde was considering telling both of them to stick their attitudes where the sun don't shine.)

All in all, it had been a good night, with minimal mood killers.

Their ultimate mood killer was walking down the stairs just as the thought crossed Hyde's mind.

" _What_ are you all doing here? It's a damn school night for God's sakes."

Six versions of "Goodnight, Mr. Forman" rang through the air.

"Go home! Go do your homework. Have dinner. Throw a party, for all I care. Just get out of my house!"

Red turned and walked straight back up the stairs, as huffy as when he came down 'em. Jackie furrowed her brows together. "Do you think he forgot why he came down here when he saw us, or did he come down here just to yell?"

"Just to yell probably."

"Yeah, he likes to yell."

Jackie shook her head. "Well, who's taking me home?"

"I gotta take all of ya home," Hyde grumbled, sounding completely unenthused. "Red took away the Cruiser thanks to Forman's genius move going to California."

"Hey, you bought the ticket," reminded Forman.

"Yeah," he replied grudgingly. "To give myself a break from hearing your cries as I fall asleep."

Donna turned to Forman. "Aw, Eric, you cried for me? I don't know if I should be touched or a little disturbed."

"Disturbed," Jackie answered uninvitingly.

"So are you taking us home, Hyde?" Kelso asked, bending down to help Fez collect cards.

"Yeah, I guess. Wanted to take the Camino out for a spin anyway."

"I call shotgun!"

"No, no, no," Jackie corrected. " _I_ call shotgun."

"Nuh-uh! I did it first!"

"Well my one counts more."

"What? Why?"

"Because... I'm better than you in every possible way, so what I say is just more important."

Kelso screwed up his face. "That's not how it works."

"Yes it is, _Michael._ "

"Alright, alright, fine. You can have shotgun."

Jackie smiled her bitchiest smile, then grabbed her bag and dramatically made her way out the door. As soon as it shut Kelso faced the others with a dopey grin on his face, chuckling. "Did ya see that? She totally wants me."

There was a collective groan as Hyde reeled his arm back and frogged Kelso's shoulder, hard. "Shut up, man," he told him. "Just get your crap and let's go."

* * *

"Hyde, you missed the turn."

"No I didn't."

"Uh, yes you did," Fez piped up, agreeing with Kelso. "Jackie lives that way."

Jackie, pressed up against the passenger side door, as far away from Hyde as she could be, turned her head to look at him, a single eyebrow raised.

"Crap," he said, not sounding at all disappointed to her ears. "I'll just drop you off first then spin back around."

Fez shrugged and Michael sank back into his seat. They were so oblivious, the both of them. Thankfully so. Jackie hid a smile behind her hand.

Ten minutes later, they were pulling up to the curb in front of Michael's house, having just dropped off Fez, and bidding him goodnight.

He couldn't get out of the car fast enough.

The moment they were off his street and his house was out of sight, Jackie undid her seatbelt and slid across the seat.

"Today lasted _forever,_ " she cried, resting her head on Steven's shoulder.

"Tell me about it," he agreed, placing his hand gently on her knee. Jackie wound her arm through his and placed her palm on top of his one. His hand was so big.

"Did you have a good day?" she whispered, not knowing what else she could say. What she wanted to say was: _"aren't you tired of sneaking around?"_ But she chickened out. How on earth was she supposed to tell him that she wanted to tell Michael, to get this over with, to be more than the chick he's _having fun_ with.

"Nah, not really," he answered, applying pressure to her knee lightly. "Did you?"

She shook her head. "Not really."

"Miss me?" His voice was slightly teasing.

"Not as much as you missed me."

He smirked, and that alone made Jackie's heart feel like it tripled in size.

Being this near him again, after the longest day of her life, felt like breathing fresh air for the first time after being trapped inside for weeks. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the feeling and pretended like it was no big deal the way she felt about him.

Her eyes still closed, she felt him turn up his palm and lace their fingers together. Her heart skipped several beats.

When the car stopped and Steven's hand left hers to put it in park, she still had her eyes closed, and spoke softly, "I don't want to get out."

Steven took a long breath. "You can sleep in here if you want but I'm not stayin' with ya."

Jackie giggled and lifted her head from his shoulder, finally opening her eyes. An onslaught of things she wanted to say to him attacked her mind. She leaned forward and kissed him. His hand pressed the back of her head, holding her close, and his lips were soft (unlike the beard that scratched at her face) and his breath was warm and he was all she wanted.

"Steven."

"Jackie."

She looked up at him and swallowed all the nerves and tension built up in her. He was looking at her with the same curious hunger. "We need to talk."

His face remained the same - stoic and almost expressionless. But in dim lighting of his car she saw his jaw tense. "About?"

"You know. Donna and Eric. Michael."

Sighing, he said, "Jackie, I told you, we'll deal with that when the time comes."

"That's stupid and you know it."

He secured his grip on the steering wheel and stared straight ahead. Even in the dark the El Camino looked out of place - noisy and small and cheap-looking in comparison to all the grand, brightly lit 'mansions' that stood here.

"I didn't mean _now_ ," Jackie added nervously. "I just...look, forget it. We'll just deal with it when the time comes like you said." He didn't look super pleased with that either. "Or not…Steven!"

"What?"

"What's going on in your head?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are you thinking?!"

"Right now?"

"Yes!"

"I'm thinkin' that I liked it better when we were kissing."

Jackie slapped his arm. "Look," she said, pulling on his arm so that he would give her his full attention. "Tomorrow night my mom and dad are going to this fancy dinner gala thing. Why don't you come over? We can talk or not talk or whatever you want."

He turned his head back in her direction. "What time?"

"After 7."

He nodded slowly. "Cool."

"So you'll come?"

"Sure, why not?"

Jackie grinned. "Okay."

"Man," Steven shook his head and ducked his head down to kiss her again, quickly this time. He looked like he was gonna say something, then opted out. "I'll see ya tomorrow, Jackie."

Jackie gave him another smile and kissed him on the cheek before climbing out of the car. "See you tomorrow, Puddin.'"


	3. What's To Stop Us, Pretty Baby?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own That 70s Show.
> 
> A/N: Hey!! This is up way later than I wanted it to be, but it was a very long week with school and shit. But here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy. For context, this would be the night Jackie refers to at the beginning of episode 3 when she says, "Hey, Steven, I had fun last night." 
> 
> And before I forget, I got a comment on the last chapter asking about when Jackie started calling Hyde 'Puddin' Pop.' I'd like to apologize for that - that would be one of the instances where I forget I wrote it in Summer Lovin' but it's not actually canon. So, in SL I wrote about where the nickname originated but I forgot to mention that in the last chapter. I'm sorry if I confused anyone. I'll try to remember all the references I make and note them in the Notes so people who haven't read Summer Lovin' aren't left lost. 
> 
> Sorry again! That's it for real now. Thank you for reading :)

The Camino came to a shaky stop in the Burkharts' driveway, and as soon as the car shut off, the street elapsed into eerie silence. Hyde hated it. At the Formans, and even his old house, back when he lived with his Ma, it was never so quiet. The silence just reminded him of one of his favorite philosophies – rich people don't know how to have fun. Not real fun anyway.

Except Jackie. She was an exception to that rule - she knew how to have a good time.

Shaking the thought out his head, he grabbed the box that sat on his passenger seat and hopped out the truck, kicking the door closed before walking up her porch steps.

The door swung open seconds after he rang the doorbell, and Jackie stood on the other side, a smile already on her face. She was always freakin' smiling. It was frustrating and endearing.

"Steven!" she exclaimed in that high-pitched voice of hers. As if she weren't expecting him. "You bought pizza."

He looked at the box. "Yeah, well," he shrugged.

She stepped aside as he stepped in, following their usual protocol for when he came over. He stood to the side while she locked up the door, then waited for her to lead the way up her stairs and into her bedroom, which was the only room in the house he actually liked.

Jackie's house was huge and hollow and so clearly meant for rich people. No matter what room he was in - even in the damn bathroom, with all those fancy towels and other useless crap - he felt severely out of place. But Jackie's room was cool. It felt like its own entity, separate from the rest of the building. It actually had personality.

Not to get him wrong - it was hideous. Her room was disastrously colorful and festive, decorated with stuffed animals and tiaras and posters of The Captain & Tenille and other artists who sucked.

But the best parts of her lay scattered around in less visible areas. A small pile of papers lay on her vanity table, scribbled over with her loopy handwriting. Next to those was her favorite lip gloss (which was watermelon flavored, but Hyde could never much tell the difference between watermelon and strawberry and cherry when he was kissing her). Underneath her phone was a piece of paper where she had all the phone numbers she would ever need. It was old, and at the top of the page was Kelso's name, complete with a heart dotting the 'i.' On the bottom shelf of the desk beside her bed were a stack of books Jackie claimed never to have fully gotten through; but one day, while he had been waiting for her to finish her hair, he'd flipped through them without her looking and noted the way the pages were worn and bent and found lines highlighted all throughout the books.

"You didn't have to get a pizza," Jackie babbled loudly. "My parents left money for food." She grabbed something from the table then turned around to flash it at him, along with a grin - a crisp twenty dollar bill.

"So your parents went to some fancy dinner party where they're gonna eat more food than some people eat in a month, and they left you here alone with twenty bucks."

Jackie gave him a judgmental look. "You can get a lot with twenty bucks, Steven. You should know that."

Hyde rolled his eyes at her just as she stuck her hand out, handing him the money. "What's that for?"

"For the pizza."

Unease unrolled in his stomach. What did it say that Jackie thought he needed to be paid back for a damn pizza? "Forget it," he said, pushing her hand away.

"No it's fine," Jackie insisted. "I was supposed to spend it on dinner anyway."

"Don't worry about it, Jackie," he replied, his voice resembling a warning not to push too hard.

Course, she's Jackie, and pushiness runs through her damn veins. "Money doesn't matter to me, Steven," she snapped back, and he knew there was no malice behind her words, but Jesus.

"Money matters more to you than it does to me," he said through gritted teeth.

She glared at him and he could feel the tension building between them - and not the good kind.

"Look, I didn't pay for it, all right?" he said finally, forcing himself not to get annoyed over her words.

"So how-"

"Leo ordered it at the Fotohut for dinner. Then he left before it got delivered, so I took money out the pan and paid for it and figured I might as well bring it over." It was a true story. He hadn't been planning on telling it - figured he'd score some points for being thoughtful - but it was better than her acting like she owed him for doing something nice. This was exactly why he never did anything nice.

"You _stole?_ "

"Yeah, Jackie, I stole."

She rolled her eyes and shoved the twenty dollar bill in her pocket. "You make things so difficult."

"Can we eat now?"

"Fine."

Blowing out a breath he set the box on the floor then accompanied it there, leaning his back against her bed frame.

"Why are you sitting on the floor?"

"As opposed to the dining table you have in your room?"

"That's disgusting," she balked, ignoring his sarcasm.

"Quit actin' like a princess and sit down."

"You disgust me."

"You gonna do this all night?"

"Do what?"

"Get on my nerves."

Jackie huffed but conceded, settling on the floor next to him and folding her legs underneath each other. Hyde handed her a piece of pizza and she took a bite, humming softly under her breath, her frustration with him already forgotten.

Over an hour later, they were still on the floor, though Jackie had her head in his lap and her feet stretched out in front of her and her mouth running a marathon. He'd stopped trying to keep track what felt like ages ago, once he lost track of all the names spewing out her mouth.

If things were the way they were over the summer they'd be making out by now. But Jackie'd been slowing things down for weeks now. He knew it was probably because of all the crap going through her head - guilt mixed with a bunch of other feelings - so he hadn't brought it up, not wanting to push her. But he helplessly missed the days over the summer when it was easier to pretend a clock wasn't weighing them down. The pressure was so heavy now that he knew if they didn't relieve it soon, they would break, and that would be it.

"I still have to figure out the rest of my outfit, though," Jackie talked on. "I have to look my best. It's the beginning of the school year, I'm a junior, and if I want a serious shot at making captain next year I have to start from now. And those girls are bitches. I need to look so good it'll scare all the losers and less pretty people away from me. Everyone knows the person who hangs out with all the best-looking people are most popular. And if I'm the most popular I'm bound to make captain."

Hyde tried his best to sound interested. "You enjoy all this?"

Jackie frowned. "Making my way up the social ladder? What's not to like?"

He stared down at her. "You don't actually have fun doing all this crap."

"Yes, I do," Jackie promised. She didn't sound like she meant it. "It's important to me. Look, help me pick a top."

She sat up and jumped to her feet, running over to her closet and disappearing, popping back out seconds later holding two tops up from their hangers.

"What do you think? Which one should I go with?"

In Hyde's honest opinion, the only differences worth noting were that one was red and one was white, and that the red one had a lower neckline. He pointed to it. "Think you should try on that one."

An exasperated smile split across Jackie's face and she rolled her eyes in his direction. Then she shrugged and walked towards him. "Fine."

Hyde raised his eyebrows quizzically. "Really?"

"Why not?" she shrugged and smiled again, stopping at his feet. "Be right back."

She bent down and kissed him quickly on his mouth then skipped into the bathroom. Hyde pressed his lips together. How did he get to a place where the tiniest kiss sent his pulse racing?

Thoughts - the most annoying and frustrating kind - screamed so loud in his head that he was tempted to get up and turn up the music...which was the worst kind of disco imaginable. He hoped Jackie wouldn't take long. Her presence made it almost impossible to think.

He stood up and stretched, relieved to finally have his ass off the ground. He'd gotten uncomfortable about halfway through Jackie's rambling, but seeing her laid half on the floor and half on top of him had been too rewarding to shake her off and stand up.

He was still standing when Jackie reopened the bathroom door and twirled out, her hair bouncing perfectly around her shoulders. "So?"

The top wasn't as low cut as he had thought, but it still dipped generously below her chest, and what he couldn't see there was made up for with the piece of her stomach on display before her jeans covered up the rest of her. Jackie also looked extremely hot in red. He told her as much.

"You look hot."

She smiled and sauntered over to him. "Duh. But hot enough?"

His eyes scraped up and down her body. "Yeah, hot enough."

He couldn't stop looking at her. Not without some serious effort and concentration that he wasn't willing to put in. Jackie was...she was the textbook definition of all things pretty. He was sure he'd never seen anyone look as good as her, and sure he never would.

"What are you thinking?" she asked in a softer voice, her eyes meeting his.

What Hyde was thinking was that in lit class a couple days ago, some dumbass had asked a question about a word he didn't know. So they had to spend half the class going over word definitions and why it's important not to just skip over big words just because you didn't know what they meant. Anyway, the word had been _opalescent,_ which Hyde remembered because he thought it was a damn ugly word. It meant having multiple colors or something like that.

What Hyde was thinking was that maybe it wasn't that ugly of a word, because sometimes, in the right light, Jackie's eyes were different colors, and they weren't ugly at all.

"Steven?"

But he damn well couldn't tell her that. "You should wear this one," he said. His throat sounded dry.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he said. He desperately didn't want to talk anymore. He grabbed for her waist and bent down - only for her to hold up a hand and take a step back.

"Wait! Did you wash your hands?"

"What?"

"After the pizza! They could still be greasy and I have to wear this outfit soon!"

"Are you-" Hyde closed his eyes, counted to three, then marched towards the bathroom. He had thought he knew patience before Jackie. But being with her required a whole new category of patience he didn't even know existed.

He washed his hands, made a show of drying them completely for her, then walked back to the center of the room, folding his hands across his chest. "Can I kiss you now?"

She was blushing. "Please."

Then she stepped forward and put both her hands around his neck, pulled him down, and kissed him.

* * *

Jackie loved making out with Steven so much. And she was getting sick and tired of trying to slow things down until he made up his mind. She couldn't do it anymore.

Every time she told him to wait or to stop felt like a jab at herself, not him. She wondered if he was as frustrated as she was. He didn't act like it. In fact he didn't push her at all. Which only made her want him more.

God. She could be waiting forever. Who knew how long it would take him? She couldn't do it. She couldn't torture herself any longer. 

"Steven, wait," she forced herself to say, for what she hoped would be the last time.

He sighed, his body sagging against hers, but he pushed himself away from her, putting an unwanted distance between them. "What's wrong?" he asked with a tired voice.

"Steven, we need to talk. For real this time." She bit her lip.

He took another long, deep breath, then ran his hands over his face. When he looked at her again, she couldn't read anything from his eyes. "Yeah, okay." And he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at her expectantly, attuned to whatever she had to say. 

Great. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Steven," she began, and her heart battled against her chest as if it were pleading with her not to have this conversation. "I don't want to do this anymore." If Jackie thought he looked distant before, it was nothing compared to how he looked now. As if he regretted every decision he ever made that led him here. As if regretted ever touching her. He wasn't understanding. "Not like this."

"You invited me over tonight so you could tell me _that?_ "

" _No._ " She moved forward and tried to touch his arm but he stepped back out of reach. "No, Steven, you're not understanding."

He interrupted, "No, I get it, Jackie. It's-"

" _No,_ you don't." Jackie took another deep breath and prayed to God that she wasn't about to lose him. "No, you don't get it all. You have no _idea_ how much I like you, Steven." She looked away from him and blinked hard. If she lost him she would never forgive herself - for losing something that didn't even belong to her. "I like you so, so much, and I-I can't keep pretending like...like there's nothing else here for me, like this is just a fun fling. I know - I know you don't date and I know how you feel about it and I know Eric and Donna want this to stop and that Michael makes this complicated, but…" She drew in another breath. "But I can't pretend anymore. I don't want to. I'm so tired of sneaking around and I'm exhausted of going to bed every night wondering if things between us are gonna end soon. Because I like you, and I don't want it to end."

She stopped talking and waited, her eyes still focused away from him. But when no answer followed she turned her head and looked back at him. He looked so deep in thought that Jackie wasn't sure he would hear her if she spoke. 

"Steven?"

He blinked and she could see him swallow. Several lifetimes passed, and in each of them, Jackie saw Steven and her together, happy and in love, and together. She hoped this lifetime wouldn't be any different.

"I don't want it to end either."

And it was far from the most romantic thing she'd ever heard, and only a sentence compared to her rambling, but Jackie felt such relief that she was sure she'd just lost half her weight in worries. She had the greatest urge to rush at him and hug him until he had to leave. But she forced her feet to stay on the ground.

"You don't."

"No, man." He drew in a breath then let it out with, "I don't."

Jackie nodded. "So...what are we?"

"I got no idea, Jackie," he said truthfully.

"Okay." She smiled then, her first real smile in days. "I don't care."

He sounded relieved too. "Good."

And they met in the middle, neither of them able or willing to stand so close yet so far from each other anymore. 

And the way he kissed her made her knees go week, so he put his hands on the back of her thighs and hoisted her up and then kissed her even better.

And when he whispered her name against her lips Jackie knew this was the happiest she'd ever been. 

"Steven," she said with a giggle between kisses. "Steven, wait."

He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers. "What now?"

"One more thing. Put me down."

Steven did as he was told, letting her slide down and out of his grasp. Not wanting to be fully separated, she snuck her hands into his, holding onto them tightly. 

"What are we gonna do about Eric and Donna?"

"Tell 'em to stick it where the sun doesn't shine."

"I'm serious. They're so-"

"Annoying."

"Well, yeah, but they kind of have a point. Don't you think we should tell him?"

Hyde ducked his head down, for a few seconds, like he needed a moment to think and breathe, then looked back up at her with clarity. "Yeah, I think we gotta tell him. He's gonna find out anyway. Eventually."

Jackie tried not to let her heart soar too much when she heard that. Eventually sounded like such a long time away. Eventually. She and Steven would still be together when eventually came, and then afterward too. 

"Should we tell him together?" she asked earnestly.

At that, his hands tightened around hers. "Nah. No, I think I should tell him myself. He - well, he's probably not gonna take it well, and if you're there it'll only make it worse."

Jackie looked at him sympathetically. He sounded nervous. She squeezed his hands back. "You think he'll be that mad?"

"He's Kelso," scoffed Hyde. "Even if he's not that mad he's gonna act that mad."

Jackie nodded again. "Yeah. Okay." Then she added as an afterthought. "I know it's stupid and I shouldn't care, because he left me, but I don't wanna hurt him."

"I know." Hyde's thumb brushed over her hand, and it sent tingles way up to her heart. 

"But I'm happy. With you. And this."

Steven smiled at her. "Good." Tugging on her arms he brought her closer and laid a kiss on her forehead. Jackie's eyes fluttered close at his touch. "Wanna go for a drive?"

"Right now?"

"Why not?"

Jackie smiled. "Okay."

"C'mon."

He let go of her hands to bend down and grab the almost-empty pizza box along with his jacket and whatever else he had brought with him. Jackie's eyes followed him adoringly the entire time. 

She didn't think he noticed until he set the pizza box down and turned to her, with mock exasperation written all over his face. 

"Jackie," he explained. His voice was quiet and softer than she'd ever heard it. "You gotta quit lookin' at me like that, man. It does things to me."

Jackie's cheeks heated up, and she closed their short distance to press her face into his chest. She looked back up at him, with all the same emotions in her eyes. She couldn't hide them. Not nearly as well as he could.

"I don't think I _can_ stop."


	4. Wicked Ways Of Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own That 70s Show.

"Where'd Kelso go?"

He asked the first question that popped into his head when he walked out his room and saw only two people in the basement where there had been three only a couple minutes ago.

After the sorry excuse for an 'understanding' he and Kelso had come to, and a reluctant handshake moderated by Donna, he had excused himself to his room. He figured he and Kelso both needed the space anyway. But he hadn't done much in his room other than pace up and down, fighting the wave of emotions crashing in his stomach.

Guilt was the biggest one - guilt he didn't even want to feel, cause Kelso was an ass, and he chose to leave Jackie, and whatever (or whoever) she chose to do in her spare time was none of his business. But Kelso was also his best friend, and Jackie's ex-boyfriend, and he had cared for her (cared, not loved).

Hyde had told him he was sorry. And he was - sorry for not being the one to tell him and that he felt betrayed. But he wasn't sorry for being with Jackie. Maybe _that_ was what was making the guilt feel so damn heavy.

Whatever it was, Hyde had grown tired of thinking about it. So he opted to do what he'd been doing to get himself to stop thinking for months - find Jackie. So after pulling himself together, he'd walked out his room to do just that.

"He went upstairs to get an ice pack," Fez answered sadly. "You know, for his eye."

Hyde scoffed slightly and rolled his eyes. "Did it to himself," he muttered. "Literally."

"Hey," scolded Donna lightly. "Go easy on him. He's had a hard day."

He responded with a sour look, beyond tired of people pitying _Kelso_ of all people. "Oh well that sucks, cause mine's been great," he answered sarcastically.

Donna held up her hands. "I'm not saying yours was great, but I'm betting you didn't spend an hour crying into a bowl of chocolate pudding, did you?"

Hyde chose to ignore her question. "Jackie still at your place?"

Donna let the issue go, as he supposed they all were now. They all knew. There was no more need to hide or sneak around. It made Hyde nervous. Would she start expecting other things now? Things like what? Did he want to start actually doing those things? Probably not.

"That's where I left her," Donna's voice sliced through his thoughts.

He had to find Jackie as soon as possible. He was gonna give himself a headache if this crap continued. At least it was impossible to think while making out with her.

Hyde nodded and headed toward the door. "Cool, well, I'm gonna go find her, so...see ya."

He walked out before Donna or Fez could say anything else, and left them to gossip about everything that went down today, which he knew was exactly what they'd be doing.

He took his time up the stairs, grateful that the air wasn't chilly tonight. His hands swinging limply at his sides, he was about to turn the corner of the house and cross the driveway when he realized the porch was occupied.

His body working faster than his mind, his feet refused to take another step forward, and instead they stepped deeper into the shadows. The back of his mind rang loudly, trying to remind him that this was insane and eavesdropping was completely not zen.

Seeing Jackie and Kelso alone together, though, for the first time since Kelso's return, wasn't something he'd expected to see. Which was stupid. What had he expected? That they would hate and avoid each other like the plague? Not Jackie - she'd do anything in her power to make sure everyone loved her. Kelso was no exception.

The first words he caught her saying were "I'm not gonna say I'm sorry," and despite himself, he felt his spirits lift a little. Maybe they were fighting. Maybe Jackie really was completely done and over with Kelso. "Because I wanted you, and you left and broke my heart." And just like that his mood went right back down. Over the summer he and Jackie had been so focused on ignoring the ugly parts of their relationship that he'd never really known how Jackie felt about the breakup. Now he did: she was heartbroken.

"And I like Steven now. So you need to get over it so we can all become friends again." _I like Steven now._ He knew that of course. She'd told him as much last night when they were in her room. He'd been too freaked out to tell her he liked her too, even though he was sure she knew. She had to know. He made it pretty damn obvious.

Kelso took several moments to answer her, and from his angle, Hyde couldn't see much except for that his head was pointed in Jackie's direction. And whatever he said in response was too muffled for Hyde to make out.

But whatever it was made Jackie noticeably soften, and she took a tiny step closer, grabbing the pack from Kelso's hand. Hyde's teeth gritted as she used her other hand to lift his cheek and the other to press the pack against his eye.

There was nothing that suggested anything other than what Hyde was seeing, but jealousy roared inside him louder than it ever had before. The way Kelso looked at her…

He didn't have to watch this crap. He wasn't the kind of guy to stand in the shadows to torture himself. And he and Jackie may not have been _together_ together yet, but they were still together.

So shaking off whatever had paralyzed him in the first place, he set his feet in motion again and walked toward them.

Kelso saw him coming first, and his eyes darkened a little, giving Hyde a hint of satisfaction. "Hey," he said, stopping right behind Jackie.

She dropped her hands immediately and whirled around, her mouth slightly open in surprise. As soon as her gaze landed on him, a smile broke out onto her face.

"Hey," she said back, and Hyde could hear the smile in her voice. Her eyes lit up a little too, and the jealousy subsided a little. She was looking at _him_ like that.

"I was comin' to look for ya," he said, focusing his gaze on her face. "It's getting late. Want me to walk you home?"

Her smile got wider. "Yeah. Okay, sure." She turned back around and handed Michael the ice pack. "Bye, Michael," she said as he took it.

But Kelso's eyes were focused on Hyde, who stared right back at him. It would take more than a half-assed handshake, Hyde knew, to have things go back to a new normal. After several seconds, Kelso's gaze shifted downward, almost sadly, and he nodded his head. "Later," he told them.

The guilt threatened to resurface, but the jealousy was stronger, and as Hyde and Jackie turned to walk away, he grabbed her hand and slipped it into his. The bitter parts of him hoped Kelso noticed.

Jackie smirked and stepped closer to him, leaning onto his arm. They walked like that until they turned off the Formans' street and the house was no longer in sight.

"So," she piped up a second later. She pulled her hand out of his grasp. "What was _that_ all about?"

"What was what all about?"

"Don't play dumb."

"You gotta be more specific," he grunted.

"You and Michael just now. What was that?"

Hyde shrugged and looked straight ahead, ignoring the annoyingly bright and amused look she was wearing. "Well he just found out about us today, Jackie, things are gonna be weird for a while."

"No that wasn't it," she shook her head. "You weren't acting awkward. You were acting _jealous._ And possessive. I would know," she added matter-of-factly, "I used to do it all the time."

"Yeah, _you,_ " Hyde snapped. "Cause you're all jealous and crazy and girly."

Jackie rolled her eyes and smiled wider, more teasingly. "Yeah, you're right," she nodded thoughtfully. "I must be crazy. Cause there's no way you were acting jealous and possessive when I'm not even your girlfriend."

Hyde clamped his jaw shut and answered through gritted teeth, "Right."

"I mean, you know, technically, I am a single woman."

"I know."

"So you don't really have any right to be jealous."

Hyde scoffed at that one. "Let's not forget how many times you got jealous over the summer."

Jackie shot him her signature bitchy look. " _Me?_ "

"Yeah, you."

"I don't think so."

"Do I need to remind you of-"

Jackie held up her hand and said quickly, "No. You don't."

A smile started to form on his face. "And that was back then, and this is now. So technically, if I _was_ jealous - which I'm not - I would have a right to be. Y'know, considering that we're fucking each other."

Jackie gasped loudly and slapped his arm. "You don't have to say it like that! You make it sound so vulgar! And dirty." She shuddered.

Hyde smirked, grateful that he got under her skin as badly as she got under his. "So what would _you_ call it?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She answered blushing furiously, and the sight of it completed the smile on his face.

"Shut up!" she exclaimed, then she burst into giggles at the same time. Her happiness was contagious, and Hyde found himself laughing too, and they laughed together until Jackie said, "I hate you."

"Nah," he replied cockily, a smile still on his face. "You like me."

The rest of their walk went about as good as the first part of it did. Hyde still got amazed at how freakin' easy it was to just be around her. She was high-maintenance and easy going at the same time. Not many people made him smile as easily as she did. And he didn't want to make anyone smile as much as wanted to make her smile.

And still, the thought of becoming her boyfriend - of putting a label on things - scared the shit out of him. He was constantly reminding himself that she was still _Jackie,_ and the minute labels came into the picture things would change. It didn't matter that they were practically dating already. To be official would mean anniversaries and gifts and expectations he wasn't ready for and didn't want.

He just wasn't sure how long he'd be able to put it off. She was fine joking about it for now (a big deal for her, he knew). But sooner or later she'd want more.

Kelso had broken her heart. And once it was put back together and she was ready to give it away again, he had a feeling he wouldn't be the only person after it. She may like him now but…

How long until she realized that this was all he had to offer? There would be no upgrading once (or if) he became her boyfriend. Hyde simply didn't know how to be anything other than what he already was. Even for her.

He didn't walk her to her door. Instead they stopped right in front of the driveway and she stopped to look up at him with a smile. "Thank you for walking me," she said, perfectly polite, and his heart flipped in his chest.

Smiling at her, he bent down and kissed her lightly, his thumb caressing her cheek with a soft touch. She smiled as they kissed, and brought her hand up to cover his, standing on her tiptoes when he pulled away to capture his lips again.

"Goodnight, Steven," she whispered.

"Night, Jackie."

She started walking up her driveway, and before he could stop himself he reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back in his direction. She turned, looking at him with a frown.

"What-"

"I like you too, Jackie," he blurted out. She raised her eyebrows. "Last night. You told me you liked me and I didn't really say anything, so I just wanted you to know. I don't know about all the other stuff but...I thought you should know. In case you didn't." God dammit he was rambling.

If Jackie never let him live this down he wouldn't blame her. His cheeks felt hot under her gaze. If he ever spoke about his feelings again, it would be too soon.

Jackie smiled. "I know." He stared at her with a mixture of disbelief, exasperation, and adoration. "I mean, come on, Steven, everybody likes me." He continued staring. Jackie's smile widened. "But thank you for telling me."

She stood again on her tiptoes and kissed him, pressing her hands into his curls and pulling him closer.

"Don't expect it to be a habit," he warned her when she pulled away for a breath.

Jackie shrugged. "We'll see about that."

Then she leaned up one more time to kiss him on the cheek before finally turning and walking up her driveway and onto her property. Hyde stood outside until the door shut behind her, then he shoved his hands in his pockets and began walking back the way they came.

It had been a hard, mostly annoying, and very frustrating day.

But suddenly it felt worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey it's been a while lol. Almost 3 weeks I think? You probably guessed it, but I took a well-needed break after working on fics every single day since I started writing in May. I just needed some time to organize my ideas and make sure I actually like what I'm writing and not writing just to post something. So I took a break but now I'm back :) I hope you all like this chapter. It's a bit shorter than usual, but then these are just missing moments anyway so none of them will be very long.
> 
> Anyway, I'm not from the US so I don't really celebrate thanksgiving but I'll still use today as an excuse to tell you how extremely thankful I am for having people actually read and comment and enjoy what I write. It makes me so irrationally happy. Thank you.
> 
> Hope you all had great days, whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not.
> 
> See you soon :)


	5. Tale That Can't Be Told

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own That 70s Show.
> 
> Don't have much to say today, but just as a warning, the second portion of this chapter is sorta rated M, so if you don't like that kinda stuff, you can just skip to the last part :) Hope you enjoy

Hyde had never really smiled while he was kissing before Jackie. Kissing had never been anything more than making out - hot and heavy and fun and a fantastic way to pass the time. It was still all those things. But, man, sometimes, when he was makin' out with Jackie, he couldn't stop freaking smiling. Like right now.

She was smiling, too, and letting out these little laughs that he loved hearing. She giggled again, pulling away from his face. He opened his eyes and could see hers, lidded and almost completely closed, as she ventured from his lips and stamped kisses up and down his cheek and jawline.

She laughed again. "This thing tickles."

"What thing?" he asked, a smaller but softer smile on his own face.

" _This,_ " she lifted both her hands and cupped his face, letting her hands run up and down the sides of his cheek, scratching at his beard. "You should shave it off."

Smiling wider, he shook his head and murmured, "That's not happening," against her lips, kissing them again.

"Oh, why not?" she asked, pouting out her lip after several seconds.

"The beard's awesome, man," he explained. "Makes me look older and cooler. And more zen. People take me more seriously with the beard. The beard stays."

"I don't even remember what you looked like without it."

"Good. Then you have nothing to miss."

Jackie sighed, dropping her shoulders dramatically as his hands tightened around her waist. Hyde licked his lips and waited patiently for the conversation to be over. She looked prettier than she did yesterday (she got prettier every day) and he wanted to get back to kissing her as soon as possible.

"Why can't you be one of those guys that just does whatever the girl asks?"

He gave her a look. "Cause then I'd be Forman."

Jackie thought about it for a second then shuddered. "Ugh, You're right. But at least _some things._ "

"Nope. I know how chicks work. Give an inch and you want a whole freakin' mile. Look at Forman, walkin' around wearing that big ugly ring."

Jackie frowned and twisted her hands further around his neck, lacing her fingers together at the base of it. "What ring?"

"Donna got him this _man ring_ as a symbol of their love or some shit like that. Forman said it was so ugly the elephant man wears it to distract people from his face." Jackie's jaw dropped. Hyde smiled again, nodding. "And let me tell ya, he's not wrong. The thing's about the size of the moon. And if that's not bad enough, _Fez_ likes it."

Jackie gasped. "Eric hates the ring Donna gave him? Steven, that's terrible!"

Hyde scoffed. "Yeah. And I'm tellin' ya from now, if you ever get me a ring, I'm not gonna wear it."

He shouldn't have said that - he knew it from the moment Jackie's eyebrows flew into her forehead. "Oh, I won't," she promised. "You don't have to worry about _that._ I never waste money on people I'm not dating."

He blinked at her, keeping his gaze even. "Whatever."

"I am _not_ your girlfriend, Steven."

"I know," he said, trying to keep his voice light.

"And if I ever _did_ get you a ring - which I wouldn't - it would be beautiful."

"Whatever."

"And when Donna finds out-"

Hyde took his hands off her waist for the first time since she sat herself down on his lap and lifted them in the air. "Wait, wait, wait," he stopped her. "No, Jackie, you can't tell anyone I told you that."

Her eyes focused intensely on his. "It's a secret?" she curiously asked.

He mirrored her gaze. "Yeah, it's a secret. So no blabbering."

She grinned mischievously. "I love secrets."

"Fine. Now promise me you'll keep this one."

Another smile. "Deal."

He sighed, slightly relieved with her promise. "Good. Now can we get back to business?"

Jackie laughed again, bending her head to kiss him, and he smiled.

* * *

He hadn't meant to say it. Hadn't even realized he'd been thinking about it until he heard the word come out of his mouth as if he were standing across the room, and saw the fire of recognition burn in her eyes.

"You just called me your girlfriend."

Oh man there was no taking this back. _Girlfriend._ Hell if he knew how to be a proper boyfriend. And Jackie…

"No I didn't."

"Yes. You did."

"No I didn't," he denied quickly.

" _Yes_ you did!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did and shut up you're ruining it."

Girlfriend. His mind felt like it was going blank.

Then Jackie moved off the ottoman and sat next to him, swinging her leg over his. Having her so close to him wasn't doing much to help his senses.

"Okay, now listen," she was saying, "I'll keep my mouth shut _if_ you admit that I'm your girlfriend."

Jesus. She was trying to negotiate her way into making it real. Girlfriend. Jackie. _Dating._ Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. The only reason Hyde could say no to her was because he had tons of practice with lying. "No, the price is too high," he said, determined not to make it so easy for her.

"Okay, fine. You know what? I'm telling everybody anything anyways. Starting with the fact that you called me your girlfriend."

"You're blackmailing me?" She had to be insane. She was evil. Badass. And totally, extraordinarily hot. "You're coming along nicely."

They both had smiles on their faces again when they kissed, leaning towards each other with new vehemence.

_Girlfriend._ It changed nothing and it changed everything.

She scooted closer to him, tumbling onto his lap and pressing their bodies together as much as possible. His hands trailed down from her face, caressing her neck, her arms, until they landed at her waist and held her tightly, squeezing her closer.

She hummed softly against his lips and Hyde kissed her deeper in response, taking it as a good sign when her fingers tangled up in his hair and tugged lightly.

They fell back clumsily but still holding onto each other, and somehow, despite the confines of his tiny cot, they rolled over so he was on top of her, holding his weight with his arms and leaving only an inch of space between their bodies.

He kissed her until he couldn't breathe, and even then, he just moved from her mouth to her jaw, kissing her favorite places, drawing patterns down her neck, then back up and kissed her lips again.

Hyde had kissed plenty of people before. More than he'd ever be able to remember. But never, not once, had he kissed a girlfriend. _His_ girlfriend.

"The door," Jackie whispered. At first he thought he wasn't hearing correctly, that Jackie was screwing with his senses so bad he couldn't even make out actual words she was saying. But then she said again, "Close the door, Steven."

The last thing he wanted to do was stop what they were doing. But it was in his own best interest to do what she said, so, sighing, he climbed off the bed and walked across the room, peeking outside to see that no one was out there before he shut and locked the door.

Turning back around, he saw Jackie, still laying down but balancing on her elbows to look up at him.

"I'm your _girlfriend_ ," she said as he made his way back to her.

"Yeah," he said, sitting down on the edge of the cot, looking her over like it was the first time he was seeing her like this - hair mussed up and eyes hungry and lips swollen. The sight of her made his heart race. She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

She sat up too, tilting her chin up slightly to look at him. "You're my boyfriend."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Guess so."

"Say it."

He smirked, then he snaked a hand around the back of her neck and scratched his fingers gently against her skin. His smile deepened when he heard the soft sound of her breath catching in her throat.

"You're my girlfriend," he stated, holding eye contact with her.

"Say it again." Her voice was soft.

"You're my girlfriend," he repeated, bending down to press a kiss at the spot right below her ear, then mumble the words, "Prettiest girlfriend I've ever had."

"That's not fair," she argued, but her voice was shaky. "I'm the only girlfriend you've ever had."

Trust Jackie to find a problem with something that was meant to be a compliment. "Fine. Prettiest girlfriend I'll ever have."

Those were the magic words. In less than a second Jackie turned her head to the side to capture his lips with hers, her hands flying into his hair and pulling him down with her so he was settled on top of her again.

Her tongue invaded his mouth, tasting all of him. He could feel her heart beating, pushing the emotion out of her, as they kissed, and kissed, and kissed.

He had no idea how much time had passed before she stopped kissing him to shove off the vest he was wearing over his shirt. Following her lead, he grabbed the hem of the shirt, and she sat up so he could haul it off her. She got to work then on his shirt, undoing the buttons as fast as she could, then peeling it off his arms and throwing it to the ground.

They wasted no time. He was back on top of her in seconds. Feeling her skin against his was like being given a shot of adrenaline. She spread her legs, giving him space to settle right between them. It was crazy how perfectly they fit. He never would've guessed it, seeing how small and frail she was. But it was not like anything he'd ever had before. They clicked into place immediately. Nothing had ever felt so right, so natural.

Her legs wrapped around his waist and fingers scratched his back until they found their place in his hair.

He was hard now. Could feel his dick straining in his jeans. He didn't want to get his hopes up. He and Jackie hadn't had sex since...since before Donna and Kelso came back. But they also hadn't made out like this since then.

He felt one of her hands fall from his hair and land at his side, and in seconds he reached for it, winding their fingers together and holding their hands over her head. Her hand squeezed his and, God, he didn't think holding someone's hand could be so intimate and such a turn at the same time, but it was.

They stopped to breathe, breathing in the same air, looking at each other with wild, desperate eyes. "Steven," she mumbled, almost like a whimper.

Then, remembering how much words turned her on, he was back on her, kissing her lips once, hard, then her cheek until he reached her ear and said huskily, "I'm your boyfriend, Jackie. Yours."

Her back reflexively arched up, pressing her chest up against his as he pushed down, so there was not an ounce of space between them. She could feel him, even through both their jeans, and the contact elicited a moan out of her. Hyde smiled and pushed himself down more.

She was squirming now, lifting her hips up and tightening her legs around his waist.

"Steven…" she moaned again.

"Jackie," he replied, keeping his tone as even and calm and low as possible.

"You should put on some music."

He kissed her teasingly, using a hand to slide up the sides of her stomach then stopping over one of her breasts, palming it and squeezing all while keeping his middle pressed up against hers.

"Oh my God," her eyes fluttered closed. He started moving against her, only a little, but enough. " _Oh my God._ I'm serious, Steven. Music. I can't-"

He rolled off her quickly and crossed the room in record time, opening the record player and putting in the first vinyl his hands reached. He didn't know or care what it was.

Jackie was waiting for him in the same exact position he'd left her. It took an unreasonable amount of effort, but he forced himself to walk back to her slowly, enjoying the way her eyes clung to him pleadingly. He sat next to her and placed his hands gently at her waist, inching them up slowly. His fingers were nimble and moved slowly and in circles up her abdomen.

Reading his mind, she lifted her back the second his fingers reached her bra, and he undid the clasp, then slid the straps off her arms and added it to the pile of clothing on the ground. He slid his hands over her skin again, over her breasts then back down her stomach, lingering especially at the base, where her stomach met her waist.

She stayed quiet as he unbuttoned her jeans, moving only when she needed to help him as he slid them off her.

It never stopped amazing him how perfect she was. And she was - lying on his cot in nothing but her underwear. Perfect.

He stood up and took off his belt, undoing his button, moving with deliberate slowness to take off his own jeans.

Then he started by kissing her stomach, right above the band of her underwear, then kissed up, up, up, until he reached his destination and took one of her breasts in his mouth. It was like she suddenly remembered she could speak, and a mixture of indecipherable words and moans poured from her mouth. She was right - the music did help to drown out the sounds.

Her hands twisted in his hair as he moved to her other one and she said his name, over and over and over.

"Steven, please." Her hips arched up again, begging for his closeness.

He kissed along her collarbone and up her neck. "Right now," he promised her right before kissing her lips again, ignoring the urgency with which she tried to kiss him back and letting his tongue move slowly, purposefully.

The next time her hips arched up, he gave her what she wanted, pressing down against her and moving his hips so she could feel how much he wanted her at the spot where she wanted him most.

"Oh God, Steven," she let out breathlessly. Her eyes asked him the silent question, and he nodded. He couldn't wait any longer either.

He took off his boxers and reached into the drawer for a condom, accidentally spilling over the entire box in his hurry. Muttering a small curse, he slammed the drawer shut and opened the package, rolling it on himself.

Still between her legs, he bent one of them forward as he pulled down her underwear, sliding it off her leg, then doing the same with her other leg. He looked at her - all of her - and she was the only thing to exist in the entire world.

He still couldn't tell what music was playing. She was all he could think of. And, fuck it, he had to say it.

He put both her legs around his waist and positioned himself. "Jackie," he said, and she looked at him the way you look at the stars. Wondrously. Like you couldn't believe that they were real. "You're fuckin' perfect."

Then he slid into her in one move, and before she could react he swallowed her moans with another kiss.

* * *

Jackie loved him.

She was surprised to feel so calm about it, and so sure about it. Years ago, when she had decided she 'loved' Michael, it had taken her long and careful deliberation. She had created lists and double-checked her Cosmos. And when she finally came to the conclusion that, yes, she was in fact in love with him, she had been so excited and elated that she couldn't wait to tell him.

But with Steven she just knew. The moment after they'd finished having sex she'd known it was more than that. They had made love, and Steven would laugh at her if she ever said it, but it was true. She loved him. She _loved_ him.

It didn't feel like new information, something she had to make sure about. It didn't even feel like information. It was just a fact of the matter that she came to accept. She loved him. It was easy as breathing, loving him. It was part of who she was.

She was Jackie Burkart and she loved Steven Hyde. Two statements that just made complete and total sense.

But she couldn't tell him yet. God, she couldn't even tell him soon. It had taken months for her to get him to call her his girlfriend. They'd just gotten to that milestone. Anything more would send him running for the hills.

Jackie was oddly okay with that. She didn't have a burning desire to know whether he felt the same way, or to do anything crazy to make sure he did. Loving him was enough. Being with him was enough.

She was a girl in love with her boyfriend on their first date. Their first _real_ date.

Which also wasn't something she was used to. Dates, her mother had always told her, were special. You should always look your best (and expect your date to as well). Always carry money but never offer to pay. And if he doesn't take you anywhere expensive he isn't worth it.

But her mother was on vacation in Mexico and her advice felt that far away too. Jackie and Steven were nowhere even close to expensive, at a place they'd both been dozens of times before with their friends, and once alone: the water tower. It was nice to watch the sunsets, he had explained to her on their way over. Especially at this time of year.

So that was what they were doing. And it was maybe the most peaceful Jackie had ever felt. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed, breaking the silence.

"This is so beautiful, she murmured. "Do you this a lot?"

"Do what a lot?"

"Come here. Look at the sunset."

She felt his head tilt slightly and knew he was looking at her through the corner of his eye. "You mean with a chick?"

" _No,_ " Jackie said. "Not necessarily."

"Not so much anymore," he said with a sigh of his own. "Used to, to get away from Edna for a while. I've told you that. I've brought you here before."

Jackie looked down and reached out to grab his hands, linking them together. "I remember," she said softly, thinking about last summer, when she and Steven had first gotten together. They'd snuck around all over the place, and one day he had brought her here. She had been up on the tower before, of course, but that day had felt different. It had felt like she and Steven were the only two people in the world. It felt like that now too. "That's when it changed for me."

"When what changed?"

"Us. This summer. I didn't know it yet, but...that's when it went from being just a fling to something else."

Steven nodded but didn't say anything else, keeping his gaze focused on the forest of trees below them.

"So," she prodded, elbowing him lightly. "When did it change for you?"

He answered with a deep breath. "Couldn't tell ya, Jackie. I don't know."

She pouted. "That's not romantic."

"Well," he shrugged.

In too peaceful of a mood to argue with him, Jackie didn't answer him. She glanced down at their hands and thought about how the last time they had been here alone, Jackie had dared him to hold her hand, then almost died of embarrassment. That day she'd been a blushing mess, melting to puddles every time he touched her. She hadn't dreamed that they'd ever come back again - and especially not as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Suddenly, all her love and feelings for him washed over her, and she turned and curled herself into his side, wrapping her other hand around his torso. His warmth enveloped her. She had thought back then that she was happy - it was nothing compared to what she felt now.

He lay a small kiss on the top of her head. She wondered if he was thinking about the same day.

"Wanna play truth or dare again?" she asked.

"Hell no."

She laughed quietly. "Fine."

It grew quiet again for a couple more minutes. Comfortably so. Then, without thinking much about it, Jackie asked, "Have you ever given a girl flowers?"

He rolled his eyes. "I've never given a girl _anything._ "

"I like sunflowers. For future reference."

"Good to know."

"Are you gonna ask me why?"

"You're gonna tell me anyway."

"My mother always hated the color yellow. She said it was too bright for a town like this. And that on me it made my skin look pale and ugly."

"She told you that?"

"Yeah," Jackie said, and she couldn't stop talking if she wanted to. "She was trying to help me. Warn me from making the wrong fashion choices. Anyway, Daddy used to bring me flowers whenever he missed an event or birthday or anniversary or whatever. So I always asked for sunflowers, so that they'd always be somewhere in the house. It used to drive her crazy." She giggled a little bit. "It felt good, you know? Being able to make her as crazy as she made me."

"So you rebelled by picking sunflowers."

"And it was _so_ satisfying."

"How often did you get 'em?"

"What?"

"The flowers. You said you got 'em whenever your dad missed something important. How often was that?"

For whatever reason, Jackie's stomach started to turn, like she was nervous. "Oh, well...you know, he works a lot. So he can't make it for my birthday every single year. And his job is so much more important than silly little pageants or pep rallies."

Jackie paused. Steven hesitated a moment, then said, "Sure."

"On my birthdays he got me more than just flowers. He always makes sure to get me real gifts too."

"And your mom?"

"Oh, she's around when she's around." It was an odd sensation - she felt exposed and vulnerable talking about this, but not judged or uncomfortable. Wary, but not scared. "She travels a lot. But when she's at home we spend a bunch of time together. We go shopping, and get our nails done, and get out hair styled. And she reminds me when I'm losing sight of what's important."

"And what's that?"

"Being the best, Steven," she replied simply, as if it were obvious. "She wants the best for me, and to get the best you have to be the best."

She hoped it wasn't showing how much she resented her parents. It was too soon to pile a bunch of baggage on top of everything.

But he just mumbled, "C'mere," and patted the space between his legs. Jackie gave him a puzzled look, but did as he asked, shifting from his side to between his legs, resting her back against his chest. He circled his hands around her and held her tightly, then he kissed her shoulder and asked, "When's your next pep rally?"

Confused again, Jackie told him. "Two weeks."

"I'll be there."

She felt like her heart stopped beating, then she realized that it was her breathing that had stopped. He was perfect. Perfect.

Closing her hands over his, she leaned back into his embrace and talked some more. She could trust him, she realized. More than she's ever trusted anyone in her life.

"The last time both my parents were with me on my birthday was when I turned 11." She paused, checking to see if he would say something, but he didn't. "I was excited, because before that I'd been 8, and we had this big day planned. It was supposed to be all about _me._ My dad planned to have a huge banquet at the country club in my honor. While my mom was helping me get dressed she kept saying things like 'your dad is such a family man' and asking me stuff like 'don't you wish your dad would be able to take care of all of Point Place the way he takes care of you?'

"I was too excited to realize what was going on. But the party wasn't fun. All the other girls were mean and they wouldn't let me choose what games we played, even though it was _my_ birthday. So I went to find my mom, to tell her I wanted to leave. And I caught her flirting with this other guy - I wasn't stupid, I knew what flirting looked like. I was so confused because she _knew_ Daddy was there. So I asked her about it, and she pulled me to the side and told me 'not now, Jackie, Mommy's doing her job.' So then I went to find my dad because this was a party - _my_ party. Mom wasn't supposed to be working.

"He was in a room at the back of the club, with a bunch of other men in suits and ties. A business meeting. One of the men called me over. Told me happy birthday, said my dress was pretty. Then he asked me what I thought about my dad working in government - about him working for all the people who lived in this town."

Jackie took a deep breath.

"What did you say?" Steven's voice was deep and soothing and calmed her nerves.

"I said I wished Daddy could take care of all of Point Place the way he took care of me. That's what I was supposed to say. That's why I was there. That's what the party was for. And it worked. He got the job."

Jackie could feel his heart beating and hear the steady beats of his breath, but Steven said nothing. Just held her tighter.

"Your turn," she said breathlessly.

"What?"

"Tell me something you've never told anyone."

She hadn't expected it to work. She knew Steven was lightyears behind her when it came to opening up. But she stayed silent and patient. Then -

"When my folks left - the second time - it was my fault."

"Steven, don't-" His hand flew up and covered her mouth and she shut up immediately. It was his turn. She didn't want to ruin that.

"My Ma came back. Think Bud called her. Either way, she'd been back for 'bout a week or so. And livin' at that apartment was...man. Edna refused to leave - ever. She was in there all day every day, stinkin' up the place, not doing anything with her life. Bud would bring home some drinks he stole from the bar for them to have when he got home. Always offered me some, but I never took 'em. It was still weird for me, havin' Edna around, and sometimes she and Bud would get frisky, and, man, I didn't wanna see that. So I stayed in my room. Did some homework. Listened to Zeppelin till they started yellin' at me to turn it down.

"Then one day he came home without any beer. Got Edna upset. So I asked him what happened to his stash, and he said he got sacked. Sacked from the easiest damn job on the planet cause they found out he'd been the one stealing beers. Then he told me I was gonna have to pick up his share of rent till he found another job. And I was already payin' more than half, so I told him - I said no. That he was a fuckin' ass for losin' a job meant for deadbeats anyway. Then Edna butt in, told me to have some _compassion for your father._ That families take care of each other and right now I had to take care of them. It was a load of crap and I told her that. That it's all fuckin' bullshit and they're fuckin' bullshit. Then Bud told me not to _talk to your mother like that._

"So I asked - 'what're you gonna do about it?' And he showed me. Clocked me with a good right hand. Told me I should be damn grateful they came back for me. As if they came back _for_ me. Told 'em they shouldn't have. That leaving was the best damn they they'd ever done for me.

"'Fine, we'll go again,' he told me. So I said not to take anything on the way out, that they didn't pay for any of it anyway. And they left. Didn't tell me where they were goin' and I didn't wanna know."

Jackie waited, but nothing else came from his mouth. Taking that as the all clear, she twisted around in his lap to face him, her eyes wide and sad. "He hit you?"

Steven smiled at her, a sad smile, but comforting nonetheless. He pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and reassured her, "Don't worry. I got in a few good punches too."

He was the bravest person she'd ever known.

She leaned forward and kissed him, pressing their lips together hard. _I love you I love you I love you._

She hoped he could feel it, in the way she was kissing him and the way her heart was beating.

"You know what'll make me feel better?" he whispered huskily under his breath.

"What?"

"If we did it. Right here, right now."

Jackie's shoulders dropped, and she slapped his. "You ruined the moment."

She turned back around and folded her arms as she rested against his chest once again. It grew quiet again.

Jackie pondered it for a minute, then she said seriously, "You know it wasn't your fault, right?"

Pressed up against him, Jackie could feel the moment he stopped breathing and his heart skipped. "I know," he said.

She wasn't sure if he believed it, but for good measure, she picked up his hand and pressed his knuckles to her lips. _I love you,_ she thought. And maybe that time he felt it, because his body sighed, and he hugged her again, resting his head on her shoulder as the night replaced the day.


	6. Silver Linings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own That 70s Show.
> 
> Hey :) & Merry Christmas if you celebrate it! Honestly I've had this chapter done for a while, but it's been so busy for me the last few days I haven't even had time to open up my laptop and upload it. But it's Christmas and I didn't want the night to be over without me leaving this here and telling you all for like the millionth time how much I appreciate that you're reading and commenting so faithfully. It's been a hard year and if reading my fics has helped any of you escape as much as writing has for me, that's all I could ask for. And that's all for now. Hope you enjoy :)

Jackie could be damn annoying when she wanted to be. First she made a big deal of these stupid college trips, making promises she didn't need to make and wanting _him_ to make promises he didn't need to make. And now that he finally caved she was being difficult and stubborn and damn _annoying._

He wanted to leave her to go down to the basement by herself, to let her sit down there and have no one to be all smug to. But his body tugged in her direction and he couldn't stop himself from following her, no matter how much he wanted to.

"That's all you're gonna say?" he asked, trailing a couple steps behind her.

Her hair swished back and forth behind her as she bounced down the stairs. "What else do you want me to say?" she questioned, sounding frustratingly aloof.

"What else-'' He skipped a beat, then demanded, "What the hell do you mean? I just told you nothin' happened with me this weekend."

"And I said that's good to know," she unnecessarily reminded him, whirling around to face him and bringing her arms up to cross them against her chest.

Screw it. If she wanted to be purposely difficult she could do it on her own. He wasn't gonna give her the satisfaction of knowing she was getting under his skin. "You know what? Fine. I'm goin' to my room. And don't follow me!" he added as an afterthought halfway there.

He walked in but left the door open, throwing himself onto his cot. Man, she was infuriating. He was Steven Hyde. He didn't make promises. He didn't reassure people or ask for reassurance. But he'd done it cause that was what she wanted, and, okay, maybe the thought of her flirting with some older, more promising college dude freaked him out a little. But still. She didn't have to throw his own words back in his face.

As the thought crossed his mind she showed up in the doorway and flashed a triumphant and slightly guilty grin. "You care," she accused.

He scowled at her. "If you're comin' in here to gloat or be annoying just get out," he said, his tone less malicious than his words.

"I don't see why you're upset!" She walked into the room and sat on the chair across from the bed, pulling it closer so they sat right across from each other. "When I tried to tell you I wasn't going to do anything with anybody else _you_ were being a jerk about it."

"You were trying to manipulate me into saying the shit you wanted to hear."

"I was reassuring you that I only have eyes for you!" she exclaimed, pressing her hands to her chest. "All I wanted was the same from you. We _are_ dating now."

"Yeah," he said, "Exactly. We're dating now. You should just trust me enough not to fool around with other chicks. What the hell kind of relationship is this is every time I'm not in your sight I have to swear to you I'm not gonna cheat?"

Jackie blinked. "Well, with Michael-"

"Well I'm not Kelso."

"I know you're not." He wasn't meeting her eyes, so she leaned forward and placed her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at her. "I'm glad you're not. I-that's just all I know, Steven. I'm an expert at manipulating people. I do it without even knowing it sometimes."

"Well quit doing it with me." He took a deep breath. "We're together, Jackie. _Together_ together. I'm not gonna go runnin' after the first thing with two legs and a nice rack just cause she looks my way. I'm not Kelso. I'm not gonna cheat on you. I need you to trust that, otherwise this isn't gonna work."

Jackie's thumbs stoked his cheeks. "Okay. I trust you. I do."

"Good." He put his hands over hers and took them off his face, placing them in his lap without letting go. He rubbed circles onto her hands with his thumb.

"Do you trust me?" she asked.

His eyes locked into place on her gaze. Did he trust her? His instinctual answer was _I don't trust anybody._ But he had to trust her. He'd drive himself crazy if he didn't.

"Yeah," he said. It was a half-truth, but he'd work on that. She didn't have to know about the doubts swirling about in his mind..

"Good." She smiled slightly, leaned forward. He did the same, meeting her halfway and kissing her softly. "Nothing happened," she confided. "I was miserable the entire weekend. All I could think about was you and what you were doing."

Hyde scratched the back of his neck. "Well...same here."

"Really?" she brightened up. "You were?" He chose not to answer her. "Fine. I'll go first. So we got there, we looked around, Donna seemed to really like it. But the tour was kind of boring so I went to watch the cheer squad practice. And I was sitting there and I couldn't even focus on how great they looked. I just kept thinking about how you said _Good to know,_ and that there were gonna be all these skanky college girls, and they would be hitting on you because, well, look at you, and I got so worried that you would realize...I don't know, that you would change your mind about the whole _dating_ thing, and-"

Hyde kissed her, blocking the rest of her words from leaving her mouth. She froze for a second then kissed him back, her lips as soft and intoxicating as ever. "Chill out," he told her. "I'm not changin' my mind."

Jackie smiled at him. Then patted his chest and grinned encouragingly. "Okay, now your turn!"

He tried not to roll his eyes. Jackie didn't let anything slip past her. _A little give, a little take._ He owed her that now with their new relationship status. He sighed. "A chick hit on me, offered to sleep with me, and the idea of it did nothing for me. Didn't want her at all. Then I thought about the guys that must be hittin' on _you,_ and Fez put all this crap in my head. And I know I was an ass to you before we left so I thought maybe you would've done somethin.' Y'know, as revenge. And it...messed with my head."

"So that's why you reported to me when we got back?"

Breathing out hard, Hyde answered, "Yep."

"You know, it's good to be a little bit jealous sometimes."

"Oh yeah?"

"It is," she said to him earnestly. "It's nice to be reminded that someone's scared to lose you."

"If you say so."

"I say so."

"Whatever."

"Steven?" Her voice lilted up, which meant she was a little nervous to say whatever she had to say next, but too curious not to, and worried about his answer.

"What?"

"Do you think you'll ever go to college?"

"No," he answered immediately. "That's not my thing."

"But-"

"No, Jackie. I can't afford college. And even if I could, I wouldn't want to."

"You wouldn't?"

"Nope."

"But why not?"

"Payin' thousands of dollars to sit in a classroom to learn a bunch of crap I don't care about? Never in a million years."

"Yeah but then you could get rich," she drew out as if she were explaining the concept to a 3-year-old.

"I don't care about money, Jackie."

"Everybody cares about money."

"Not me."

"But-"

"Jackie. Drop it."

"Fine."

* * *

He couldn't believe he'd found himself here. It was starting to scare him, the situations he found himself in with Jackie.

"Jackie, we gotta get outta here" he said, his head bent and voice lowered to emphasize his desperation. "I feel like I'm suffocating in here."

"Steven, it's barely been an hour."

"This place is killing me. I can feel it."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "And you call _me_ the dramatic one."

"Jackie."

"Fine. Can we just hit _one_ more store?"

"No! You know what - you stay, I'm leaving."

"No, no, wait!" she lunged for his hand and forced him to turn back around to face her. "You can't just leave your girlfriend alone in the mall. It's not safe."

"This is Point Place," he deadpanned. "The only crime that's happening here today is the one I'm gonna commit if I don't get out of here in the next two minutes."

"Fine. Fine, we'll go."

"Great, let's go," he answered, relieved out of his mind, cause if she _had_ decided to stay there was no way he'd be able to actually leave her here, and he couldn't handle any more time in this damn place. Malls were bright and loud and all the stores sold overpriced shit under the pretense that it was _on sale._ Not that Jackie even cared about that - she avoided the sale section like it would infect her with some deadly disease.

Hand in hand, he steered her towards the exit, swerving through disgustingly happy couples and running children and men who looked about as happy to be there as he was.

The feeling of sweet victory and sweeter freedom pulsated against his skin when he saw the exit sign ahead of them. _So close._

"Wait!"

_Dammit._

Jackie ripped her hand out of his to make sure he'd stop walking, and when he turned around, she was standing shock-still in her tracks, bottom lip pouted out in his direction.

"No," he said instantly.

"You don't even-"

"No."

"Steven-"

" _No,_ Jackie, let's go."

"It won't even take five minutes."

"You say that every time."

"No, it's not a store! No more shopping, I swear."

"What do you want?" he asked, crossing his arms and standing his ground.

"Photobooth," she pleaded.

" _Hell_ no."

"Oh, Steven."

"No, Jackie."

"Steven, please, please, please, it'll be so cute, and there's not even a line, so it'll only take a couple seconds. Come on, we're here already. Please, please, please."

He _hated_ when she begged him like this. It made him feel like crap if he didn't give her what she was asking, but he'd already given her so damn much. He needed to surround himself with smoke and loud banging music that would be considered too rackety to be played for commercial purposes.

"Jackie." He pulled out his desperate _please quit it_ voice.

"Oh, Steven, please, it'll be so cute. Please. If you do this with me I won't ask you to come back here for another month. _Two_ months. I'll ditch cheer practice tomorrow and we can do whatever you want. _Please._ "

As she spoke she slowly closed the distance between them, and now she stood right at his feet, head tilted up, eyes shining with hope, lips turned down slightly, and for good measure, she stood close enough for him to feel the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

Lost again. He was 0 for about 7 now.

"Fine," he snapped. "But you're doing _whatever_ I want tomorrow."

Jackie squealed and kissed his cheek quickly, then rushed off towards the photobooth, keeping her boyfriend right in tow.

She was right. There was no line, and she slid into the booth with all the eagerness of a 5 year old. Muttering curses under his breath, he got in next to her, still not quite believing what he had agreed to do.

She drew the curtain closed, and sat so close to him she was almost on top of him, smiling cheekily.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

He didn't bother answering. Jackie inserted the coin into the coin slot and instructed, "Okay, now smile!"

He did not smile as the countdown started, trying not to cave at how happy and excited she was, flipping her hair over her shoulder and flashing an expert grin at the camera.

"Steven, you have to smile!" she insisted, maneuvering herself around to get ready for the next picture. She lifted his hand and slung it around her shoulder, keeping their fingers interlaced and leaning back against his chest.

"Smiling wasn't part of the deal," he reminded her, keeping his face still as the next picture was taken.

"Baby, come on, please," she pleaded, twisting to face him, slipping her hands around his neck and forcing him to look at her.

The camera caught the moment his features softened - as they usually did when he was looking at her - and the way she gazed at him adoringly, her hands rested intimately on either side of his face.

The clicking sound of the photo being taken shocked Hyde out of his reverie, but he didn't stop looking at her. The prettiest girl in the damn world. _His_ girl.

"So you won't smile?" she asked sadly, with a softer but playful tone.

"No," he told her, and dipped his head to kiss her.

He felt her gasp against his lips, not expecting his kiss, but her body reacted instantly, her fingers scratching against his neck slightly, bringing his face closer to hers. _That_ made him smile - a tiny smile as he kissed her.

When they exited the suffocating box, Hyde was the one to grab the strip of paper that the machine produced.

" _Now_ we're leaving," he said, heading straight for the exit. But he stared at the pictures the whole way, holding the paper in his left hand and Jackie's hand with his right.

"Let _me_ see," she huffed, craning her neck over to look at the pictures.

They were cute. Or at least _she_ was. He looked more than miserable in the first two, tolerant in the third, but the last one...

She was smiling in it too, a little. It was something only he would be able to tell, having memorized her face, her smile, and every single one of her kisses. They looked like - well, like two teenagers kissing in a photobooth, acting like nothing else mattered except that they were kissing each other.

"Steven!"

Hyde let go of her hand, ripped the bottom picture off, then handed her the remaining three.

"Steve Hyde, you didn't!"

"I'm keepin' this one," he informed her. "It's the least I can get after agreeing to go in there."

Jackie, as usual, latched on to any hint of underlying romance in his words. "Oh, Steven," she cooed. "You want to keep a picture of us? That's so-"

"Don't say sweet," he interrupted her, and took a deep breath of fresh air as they finally left that godforsaken place behind. "I'm keepin' it to remember why I agree to do all this crap with you. If you look close enough you can see you pushing your tongue into my mouth," he lied. "It's giving me tons of ideas for what we can do tomorrow when you ditch your practice."

Jackie narrowed her eyes at him, scowling. "You're such a pig. Why can't you do anything sweet for me without thinking of sex?" she huffed.

"Why can't _you_ ever do things for me that involve _only_ sex?"

"Oh, I am never sleeping with you again," she declared, walking faster towards the El Camino.

"You sure about that?" he inquired, following right on her heels.

"Positive. You disgust me." She waited, but Hyde didn't answer. "I can't get you to do anything for me without giving something in return - you're my _boyfriend,_ Steven, sometimes you should just do stuff. _And_ you never buy me flowers. Or anything else for that matter. I'm a pretty girl, and pretty girls deserve pretty things. And don't even get me started on your idea of dates. A joint in your room with a box of pizza is _not_ a date, Steven. You have to at least take me out of the house. Oh, _and_ your beard is so scruffy and scratchy it doesn't even make kissing you fun."

She had arrived at the Camino, whirling around with her arms folded and leaning her against the passengers door, glaring at him. He towered over her, looking down into her eyes with a raised eyebrow. "You done?"

"Yes," she nodded, swallowing nervously but meeting his hard gaze.

"Okay," he said, but didn't step away. She got flustered so easily. His eyes flickered down to her lips. She licked them reflexively. Smirking, he licked his own lips and slinked his arm around her waist. Her expression stayed mostly stoic, but Hyde knew her, and her body knew him, and he could feel her gravitating toward him, noticed her breaths getting shallower.

Hyde kept staring at her. He could have stared at her all day. But he didn't have to do it much longer until she blurted out, "What the hell are you waiting for?"

"Huh?" he asked, feigning ignorance, eyebrows lifted in question.

"Kiss me," she said, not sounding ashamed, just tired of waiting.

His arm around her waist slammed her body into his and he kissed her, trapping her between him and the Camino, until neither of them could breathe anymore.

"I'll get you flowers if it's such a big deal," he said. "Now quit complainin.'"

He walked around the car to get into the drivers seat, and on his way, quickly pulled out his wallet and shoved the picture he tore off into it. It would be nice, he thought, to have that picture always with him. And as he started the car and drove out the parking lot, turning the familiar road to get back home, he made a mental note not to get any sexual favors from Jackie tomorrow. He knew she was just throwing words in his face, but he'd feel a whole lot better if she knew they weren't true.

And when she started rattling off about how going into the photobooth for the first time was such a _monumental moment_ that they had to remember the date so they could celebrate the anniversary of it, he agreed. He was beginning to accept there wasn't much she could ask of him that he wouldn't agree to. And for the most part, it was worth it.


	7. Like She's Never Had Before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! :') I know it's been literal ages since I last updated but it's also been literal ages since I've felt really satisfied with my writing. But I'm happy with this chapter so I'm putting it up. And I will keep writing and hopefully be able to update regularly again but I make no promises. Mainly it's because I'm in my final semester of college and it takes up pretty much all of my time. But also because, as I have said before, writing missing moments is super fun but not as creatively fulfilling, so I may or may not be working on something that I've been asked about a LOT. Maybe. Not sure yet. Either way, here is the next chapter of Devil's in the Details. I hope you like it :)

Hyde was beginning to accept that there probably wouldn't be many days that go by when he and Jackie didn't get into _some_ type of argument. At least once a day he asked himself how he ended up so caught up in a 95 pound death-trap.

Today it was the whole _if-you-can't-put-a-price-tag-on-love_ thing. If _that_ wasn't a slap to his face - a reminder of how completely opposite he and Jackie were from each other - he didn't know what was. He couldn't begin to envision a future where he had enough money to buy her all the crap she wanted. Or _any_ of it really. More than half of his laughable paycheck went to the Formans, and what was left - well, a man had to live.

And why _should_ he have to buy her all that stuff anyway? None of it meant anything. How many times had Kelso succumbed and 'surprised' Jackie with gifts (usually using her own damn money)? And _she_ had showered him with everything under the sun, spoiling him to no end, and look how great that turned out. If that was love, Hyde wanted no part in it.

But he wasn't a total monster. He knew being her _boyfriend_ meant doing nice things for her. Takin' her on dates and all that crap. And he did, whenever he scraped up the extra cash. But that wasn't very often, and, man, he liked it when she was happy.

She seemed happy enough right now. Now that their fight was over. With him and his offer to buy her a cheeseburger. They were walking to the Hub, their hands swinging between them, and Jackie was babbling on about something or the other.

"Steven?" she asked, and he snapped his head down in her direction, aware that she'd been going on about the best presents her dad had ever gotten her. He hoped she wasn't about to quiz him, cause he wouldn't be able to answer, and it would land him in their second argument for the day. "You know what makes me happier than presents?"

"What's that?" he asked with a small sigh, raising an eyebrow curiously.

She shrugged almost shyly and slid her fingers between his. "When we do stuff like this. When you hold my hand out in public like this."

Hyde felt like his heart almost stopped. Was he _that_ bad of a boyfriend? Had he really been giving her so little that holding her hand in public was a big deal to her? Jackie smiled up at him, completely unaware of how totally shitty he now felt.

"You make me really happy, Puddin,'" she teased with shining eyes.

Goddammit she was an idiot for being with him.

They were nearly to the Hub by now, the glowing sign visible at the end of the street, and they could vaguely hear the music from where they stood. But before they took another step Hyde stopped walking and tugged on her hand, suddenly enough that he startled her and she almost tripped as she turned into his arms. He smiled softly. Jackie was so confident that most people didn't notice how clumsy she could be.

She furrowed her brows and looked up at him with a question, but he swallowed it with his lips before she could ask it, bending down and curling one hand around her neck while the other stayed wrapped around hers.

He kissed her softly and easily, just barely letting his tongue slide between her lips before he pulled away, his smile widening at the shock and openness of her expression.

"What was that for?"

_You make me happy too._

"Felt like."

"I thought you _hated PDA,_ " she mocked, deepening her voice at the end of the sentence in a terrible impression of him.

"I do," he said truthfully.

She was quiet for a second. Then, with a smile in her voice, finished, "But you like me." It was one of the best parts about dating her. She knew how to read all the sappy crap running through his head, and he didn't have to figure out how to put it into words.

He rolled his eyes in her direction. "Yup."

They walked in silence for all of a minute, Jackie revelling in his (or her) tiny admission, before he cleared his throat. "So," he began, slightly awkwardly. "Should I be preparin' myself for any of those stupid family events you were talkin' about earlier?"

Jackie gave him a weird look but answered simply, "No. My mom just went on vacation and she's the one who usually organizes them. With my help of course."

He nodded slowly. "So, uh, did they like Kelso? Your family?"

His heart was starting to pick up unnecessary speed and he willed it to calm down before she figured it out.

Jackie shrugged. "I guess some of them did. My grandmother didn't - after the whole water gun incident. My slutty cousins _loved_ him. He flirted with them all the time," she scoffed. "My mom loved the attention and compliments too. My dad not so much."

He nodded again, then opted for a joke. "Guess you couldn't take _me_ around them, huh?"

" _Steven_ ," she replied sternly. "Of course I would. As long as you promised not to flirt with my slutty cousins."

Hyde felt his face flush, and was thankful for the beard and the darkening sky for hiding it from Jackie's view. "Thought you couldn't be seen with scruffy guys."

"You could always shave."

"Not gonna happen."

"Well then it's a good thing _my_ scruffy guy is good looking at least."

She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back.

_Goddammit,_ he thought to himself again as they approached the Hub, Jackie shouldering her way through the door. He was so unbelievably whipped.

* * *

Jackie liked all that cheesy, corny crap that Hyde would never admit to doing for her. He had a reputation to uphold and being with Jackie wasn't gonna change that. _But_ the Hub was relatively empty and it was only him and Jackie at the table and she was munching happily on that burger he'd bought her and the used piece of tin foil was _right there._ Besides, he could always play it off as some sort of sick joke.

He was busy folding the piece of foil over when Jackie, after chewing and swallowing and wiping her mouth with a napkin, asked if he wanted a bite.

He smiled at her. She still had a bit of mustard smeared on the side of her mouth. "Nah, it's cool, you eat," he said, and plopped a fry in his mouth. Jackie shrugged and took another bite of her burger.

"It's good," she informed him after swallowing, reaching over to grab the cup of pop he had on the table.

He smirked again but didn't answer, ripping off a piece of the foil to make it smaller.

She didn't ask what he was doing, thank God, and didn't complain once about the silence. It was like this sometimes. They would sit down and just not have much to say, so they'd sit in each other's presence and just carry on doing whatever they were doing.

The first time it happened he'd thought it was weird. He'd been getting homework done (not that he cared about school, but he wasn't gonna slack off so much that he started failing and would have to repeat a year) and she'd strolled into his room, mouth going fifty miles a minute.

"Not now, Jackie, I'm busy," he had mumbled without looking up.

"Oh," she'd answered, stopping short and peering over his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"This thing for class," he had said, looking up at her finally - then regretting it because she'd looked really pretty and was in her cheerleader uniform and he really didn't want to focus on _school_ right then.

Jackie had bent down, kissed him quickly, then said, "Okay," and sat across from him, pulling her schoolbag over her lap and pulling out her own books.

He'd watched her weirdly for a second, but she said nothing else. She'd kept quiet, just as he had asked, and they sat together and did _homework._

Sitting in silence didn't feel so weird after that. It was nice, actually. Getting to just _be_ with her. Hyde shook his head to himself. Whipped. He was as bad as Forman by now. Maybe worse.

"So what if I got pregnant?"

Hyde choked as if _he_ were the one eating. He looked up from what he was doing and glared at her.

" _What?_ Take that back. Right now."

"Well earlier you said that's the only way you should get married. _If your back's against the wall,_ remember?"

He blinked at her. "Quit talkin' like this before I have you committed."

"So you're saying if I got pregnant you wouldn't marry me?"

Hyde was sure that one, maybe both, of them had gone insane. No way was he sitting at a table listening to his girlfriend talk about pregnancy and marriage. How the hell did this happen to him?

"Jackie."

"Stop freaking out! I'm just curious, that's all."

"You know," he said after a long moment. "For the first time in months, I'm sitting right next to you, and I have no desire at all to screw you."

"Don't be crude," she scolded, scrunching up her face and taking another sip of their pop as if she didn't just say the two most cursed words in the English vocabulary within two minutes of each other.

"Don't talk about pregnancy and marriage," he countered.

" _I_ think this is a healthy discussion."

Of course she did. "I think you're insane."

"Steven, come on," she pleaded.

"You wanna know the truth?" he asked, turning to his side and looking at her directly. "If you got pregnant right now, I'd marry ya. Cause I have to. Probably drop out of school. Then I'd resent you for it, you'd start hating me too. We'd just barely get by. You'd have to move into the basement with me and we'd never get any sleep cause the damn baby won't shut up; I'd start comin' home late, you'll start yellin' at me for it, and-"

"Okay, okay!" Jackie interrupted, holding up her hands. "I get it."

"Sounds miserable, doesn't it?" answered Hyde, smug and satisfied that he'd scared whatever it was that possessed her to bring this up.

"I hate you," she promised.

Hyde leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Exactly."

"Here," he added as an afterthought, figuring now was as good a time as any to hand her the worthless 'ring' he'd fashioned out of her tinfoil. He warned, "Don't get excited, it's not a proposal. But, you know, since you like presents and things that shine."

Jackie stared at it for a second then burst out laughing. "Steven," she glowed. "Did you make me a ring out of greasy tinfoil?"

"You said you like to get stuff."

Jackie sighed dramatically and curved her hand around his cheek. "How do you make being cheap so cute?"

He shrugged her hand off with his shoulder. He hated being called cute. Or he was _supposed_ to hate it, and hated the fact that he didn't hate it.

"See - I'm not so inconsiderate _all_ the time," he pointed out.

Jackie frowned. "I called you _cheap,_ not inconsiderate."

He raised an eyebrow at her, remembering his conversation with the guys earlier. _I can't disappoint her cause I'm always disappointing her._ He liked it that way - never giving too much so she didn't expect even more.

"You don't think I'm inconsiderate?" he asked disbelievingly.

"I think you pretend to be," she said simply. "So you have a reason to be a jerk sometimes." She patted his hand and gave him a placating smile. "But I know the truth, honey." Her smile faded. "So if you think you can get away with that, think again."

Hyde stared at her. She saw right through him as if it were easy, as if he wasn't just bragging to the guys about this brilliant strategy.

She was terrifying. And he was screwed.


End file.
